Why remove the rear sway bar?

Exactly what the title says......whats the point in taking off the rear sway bar?

i can't see handing getting any better......

Better articulation of the rear axle when off road. On road, on curves especially, it's detrimental to handling.

yeah.......i'll pass.

if you had looked here....

Sway Bar Whats a sway Bar

I actually kept my rear swaybar....

..in the garage.

It must have been an option you had to buy or something.

I didn't pay for that option either.. :p

I see some confusion.

The rear sway bar (Anti-sway bar actually...) is SUPPOSED to make the rear end swing out less on hard turns.

It does do that...but, its a very slight effect. Most people who have driven with and w/o it cannot tell the difference.

I can tell, on decreasing radius turns at speed, it leans a hair more...that's about it. (A hair)

When the sway bar is connected, it hits the rear passenger side shock on droop, denting it...and, preventing full droop, by limiting the rear axle movement as well.

So - removing the rear sway bar has essentially NO impact on on-road driving...

and

a HUGE improvement in Off-road performance.

I tried a disconnect at first, but it just wasn't worth it to me...so the bar went into the garage next to all the plastic crap I took off of the roof, and the mud flaps, and the stock step rails, etc....



I don't have a front sway bar either...but, I find the FRONT bar makes a BIG difference in handling, and removing the front bar makes the handling much more sloppy on-road.

Off road, the front bar is only slightly limiting, so removing it is only a slight off road benefit.

Hope that helps.

x2

For a point of reference, my wife has an '04 4x2 with the anti-sway bar still on it, I have an '02 4x4 with the anti-sway bar skulking in the garage. I can tell a very, very nominal difference in handling between the two. However, with my truck riding on larger tires and having a lift, I would expect some more sway (higher center of gravity).

TJ:

Have you ever tried running with the rear sway bar on and the front off?

I'm ordering the Calmini SAS kit soon and since the rear suspension kit comes with disconnects I was thinking of putting the rear bar back on and saving $400 on the front - at least short term.

No, I haven't.

The rear came off a long time a go...the front came off just a few months ago.

Off hand, as the rear bar makes so little impact to start with, I'd just let it go...

I messed with disco's for a stint...just not worth it. Besides, they rattled like a bitch.

I have both disconnected in my 05. No noticable difference. Even towing 1800lb. X still handles well even in emergency manuvers. Hey A-hole get out of my lane! What, you couldn't see this X was here?

06 here and no sway bars either. Havent noticed a thing!!!

I wasted my money on rear disco's and I'm bummed . I however can tell a pretty good differance between connected and disconnected, there is a lot more "sway" I love that feeling! hey REZ90 I'll sell you my discos!

...but I would like to know if the bushings in my rear anti-sway assembly are worn... I have an 03 4x2 and I hear a clunk when I turn sharply and drive up/down through an intersection... if I go slowly, it doesn't do it, but a little speed will deliver a sharp clunk.

I don't offroad it, persay, but I do take it around my parents property in the country... old gravel roads and a few trips through fields to other pastures, etc.

any thoughts?

WXRman, nice sig line..
Had you considered looking at them before posting this?

I have found that it makes a difference in emergency maneuvers. Especially, if you carry a lot of weight up top (100-175 lbs). The truck just leans less around exit ramps. If you are towing or unloaded, the difference is hardly noticeable, but maybe because of stiffer shocks.

It could also be that your passenger side sway bar link is smashing into your shock when the passenger side tire drops down...that makes a clunk noise when it hits...

Look at the pass side shock for a dent/mark next to the sway bar link...if you have a mark there, that's probably at least ONE source of your clunk.

I did look, but as a noob to Xterra's I thought I would ask around, first... I searched a little but most references seem to be with either 4x4 applications or lift kits and fully articulated(extended travel) while off-roading.

I like the loose spare tire idea, but I can't get it to budge, so I am skeptical of that...

I'm thinking about grabbing a socket set and just "cranking down" on everything in the rear sway bar assembly... maybe I'll find something that needs tightening.

Thanks